Lettiere reports park-and-ride
accomplishments to Legislature

(Trenton) - State Transportation Commissioner Jack Lettiere announced today the release of the Department’s FY2003 Park-and-Ride Report to the New Jersey Legislature. The report highlights completed projects, as well as those underway and planned for the future.

“Governor McGreevey is making good on his promise to New Jersey’s commuters through an aggressive park-and-ride program,” said Lettiere. “This report clearly demonstrates the positive results of hard work and planning and our efforts to meet the rising demand for parking across the State. We can’t ask people to take mass transit if they can’t even find a place to park.”

A requirement of the State’s Congestion Relief and Transportation Trust Fund Renewal Act of 2000, the report’s purpose is to recommend steps for the establishment or expansion of park-and-ride facilities in areas of traffic congestion. The Department of Transportation must submit the report annually if less than two park-and-ride projects are completed in a given fiscal year. The Department chose to submit a report for FY2003 despite having completed three new projects with seven more to be finalized in the coming months.

NJDOT and NJ TRANSIT accomplishments for FY2003 include the 114-space New Providence Park-and-Ride in Union County, the 26-space Veldran Avenue Commuter Parking Lot Expansion in Bergen County, and the newly constructed Union Station with 480 parking spaces in Union County.

Projects highlighted for FY2004 include the addition of 250 parking spaces and a commuter facility at the Toms River Park-and-Ride in Ocean County, the 109-space expansion at the Garden State Parkway – Paramus Park-and-Ride, the construction of the new Montclair Station and 1,500-space parking deck in Essex County, the creation of 3,121 parking spaces along the new South Jersey Light Rail Line, the new 283-space Route 46/Waterview Boulevard Park-and-Ride in Morris County, the construction of a 500-space South Mountain Arena parking deck in Essex County and the new 332-space Washington Township Park-and-Ride in Gloucester County.

Earlier this year, Governor James E. McGreevey announced a $50 million Park-and-Ride Program to create 20,000 new commuter parking spaces throughout the state. The increase will boost commuter parking spaces from 95,000 to 115,000 over the next five years – an expansion of 21%.